This museum history examines the development of the art museum from its origins to the present, "not so much out of interest in the past," as Isaiah Berlin puts it, "but to identify first causes in order to understand how and why things came to be as they are." This story is told from the perspective of an architect and will primarily be a narrative about architectural space. It is not a straightforward history, as architecture has its own forms of development, which are not always linear and purposeful. It is mainly the upheavals that will be discussed and interpreted here. In this history, alongside architectural development, the purpose of the museum is also addressed, with less emphasis on its function. When asked about the purpose of public buildings, we often receive more interesting answers, as we can learn a great deal about the motivations of the society for which these museums were designed and built.